1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to integrated circuits, and in particular to a bit line powered bipolar memory cell in which polycrystalline silicon diodes are used.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bit line powered bipolar memory cells are known in the art. For example, William Herndon, one of the inventors of this invention, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,902 entitled "Semiconductor Memory Cell Circuit and Structure" teaches fabrication of a bit line powered bipolar memory cell having four transistors. Jan Lohstroh, in "Static Bipolar RAM Cell With Compact Punch-Through Loads", Digest of Technical Papers, 1979, IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, pages 14 and 15 teaches fabrication of a static bipolar memory cell having nonlinear load devices such as punch-through diodes. The Lohstroh circuit, however, uses punch-through diodes and requires an unusual power source supply. The use of punch-through diodes is disadvantageous because large power supply voltages are required. The use of the unusual power supply precludes application of the memory cell in many otherwise desirable applications.